Mole-trap.



Ne. 668,456. Patented Feb. I9', Ism. s. B. & .1. F. mTTENHousE.

MDLVE TRAP.

(Application med Dee. '10, 1900. N o M o d el.)

F612 FI Snom/tons Y llwitrn rares Parent @reina SILAS4 B. RITTENIIOUSE AND JAMES FREEMAN RITTEN'HOUSE, OF LIBERTY MILLS, INDIANA.

lVIOLE-TRAP..

SPECIFICATION formingl part of Letters Patent No. 668,456, dated February 19, 1901.

Application filed December 10, 1900. Serial No. 39,299. tNo model.)

To all, whom, it'l may concern: driven part way in the ground and used as Be it known that we, SILAS B. RITTENHOUSE an anchor for the trap. A longer rod B serves and JAMES FREEMAN RITTENHOUSE, citizens also as a guideway for the vertical sliding oftheUnited States, residingatLiberty Mills, parts of the trap, while the rod B2 has the 55 5 in the county of Wabash and State of Indi* tripping-plate D pivoted'thereto upon the pin ana,haveinvented certainnewand usefullur d passing through its vertical Wing D2 and provements in Mole-Traps, of which the folthrough said rod B2. The flat face of the lowing is a specification, reference being had wing D2 being parallel with the face of the therein tothe accompanying drawings. rod B2, said tripping-plate D can swing in 6o Io This invention relates to impalement--traps only one direction-viz., toward or awayfroln the prongs of which are intended to pierce the outer end of the trigger T-so that the and kill moles or other small animals, said turned-up lip d2 on the shorter end of the prongs being carried by a suitable frame tripping-plate is always at right angles to the adaptedto slide and bespring-propelleddown face of the rod B2 in proper location to en- 65 I5 along one of the anchoring vertical guidegage with the outerend of said trigger. For rods which are thrust into the ground alongthe same reason the pivoted end or inner end side of the burrow of the mole, the body of of the trigger T, mounted upon the pivot-pin the trap being adjustable upon the long ane, is retained by said pin parallel with the choring guide-rod to suit the nature of the face oi" its support, and consequently paral- 7o zo ground on which the trap is to be used, lel with thel face of therod B2, and thus the whether the soil is soft or hardand dense or outer end of the trigger is adapted to always stony, and is an improvement upon the moledrop into engagement with the turned-up lip trap for which a patent, No. 655,995, was d2 of the tripping-plate Without any necessity granted to us August 14, 1900, the objects of of handling either the trigger or the tripping- 75 25 our invention being to provide the trap with plate.

two anchoring-rods, the longest one of which The trigger is pivoted about one-third of serves as a guide for the spring-propelled its length at t upon a pin projecting from sliding frame and the other serves not only the lower end of a connecting-rod G, the upas a pivot-support for the tripping-plate, but per end of which is pivoted at g to the frame 8o 3o also as a side support Yfor said plate, so that A or to the upper end of its anchoring-rod B2. it can swing only in one direction--viz., to- Said rod g oscillates only in one direction, ward or away from the outer end of the trig and it therefore maintains the trigger T parger. Therefore there is no need to handle allel with one ot` the faces of the rod B2. the tripping-plate while setting the trigger in The vertically-sliding frame of the trap con- 85 35 engagement therewith. We attain these obsists of a fiat rod E, that is retained vertically jects by the construction illustrated in the connected to the fraineAby means of a staple accompanying drawings, in whicha2, loosely encircling said rod E and having its Figure l is a perspective view of the trap ends passing through perforations-made in the unset, with the prongs-frame nearly resting central portion of the partly-arched frame A. 9o 4o upon the tripping-plate. Fig. 2 is a side View The rod E has secured in a horizontal position of the trap set, having the prongs-frame eleto its lower end a plate F, each end of which vated and the trigger in engagement with the is provided with a row of prongs f, intended tripping-plate. Fig. 3 is a perspective view to pierce and kill any mole which may, While of the tripping-plate, showingits guiding side lifting the top of its burrow, slightly lift the 95 45 wing lying alongside of and pivoted to one outer end of the tripping-plate D and release of the anchoring-rods. the trigger T, the inner end of which trigger In said drawings, A represents the main has its pivot-pin e secured to the vertical rod frame of the trap, consisting of a fiat bar of E ot' the sliding frame. To guide the lower metal bent upon its edge like a horseshoe to end of said rod E or its horizontalfoot-plate Ioo 5o obtain inexpensively a partly-arched frame, F, the latter has secured to one of its sides and a rod B2, pointed at its lower end to be an arm F2, which has a rectangular slot t0 receive loosely the anchoring-rod B and be guided thereby.

To elevate the rod E and at its foot-plate F to set the trap, the upper end of said rod E is bent laterally, as a hook E2, n nder which the operator can place a vfinger and lift it until the free end of the trigger T has been swung down and entered into engagement with the upwardly-turned lip D2 of Jthe tripping-plate.

To retain the long anchoring-rod B and the anchoring-rod B2 of the frame parallel to each other, so that they can be relied upon as guides for the sliding prong-carrying plate and rod E of the trap, they are connected together with a bar B3, located above the prongcarrying plate F, said bar being double-riveted at one end to the'frame A and having at the other end a slot for the passage of the anchoring rod B.- To propel said sliding plate F and its rod E, the lower end of the bent and looped wire spring S is secured to said vertical rod E, while the upper end is secured to the upper portion of the frame A. 'llo guide the upper portion of the anchoringrod B, a staple h is secured to the side of the frame A, and said rod B is made to pass loosely between it and said frame. To adjustably secure the frame A upon the rod B, so that the latter can be driven the desired distance into'the ground to anchor the trap in proper position over the run of the mole, a clutch-lever I has one end pivoted at 7,' to the side of the frame A, and the other end has a somewhat pendent handle 2, the Weight of which is generally sufficient to lock said lever to the narrow edges of the rod B. Said rod passes through the lever I in a slot la, the length oi' which is slightly more than the width of the face of the rod B and is thus adapted to grip the narrow edges of said rod in whatever position the clutch-lever is made to en- `gage the edges of said rod. To insure the gripping, a coiled spring L may be used, one

end of Which is secured to the ouf-er end of the handle i2 and the other end to the end of the bar B3 of the frame.

Having now fully described our invention, we claiml. The combination of a trap-frame consisting of a flat bar bent on its edge and terminating into a fiat anchoring-rod having a pointed end, a tripping-plate provided with a turned-up end, anda vertical Wing resting fiat against, and pivoted to said anchoringrod, a vertically-sliding frame consisting of the flat vertical rod E and a prong-carrying plate, a staple secured to the frame and guiding the rod E, a flat-bar connecting-rod having its upper end pivoted to the arched frame, a trigger having its lower end pivoted to, and lying flat against the vertical rod E and pivoted to the connecting-rod against which it lies at, with a Hat anchoring-rod longer than the frame anchoring-rod, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of a trap-frame having a pointed anchoring-rod, a tripping-plate provided Wth a turned-up end, and a vertical Wing pivoted to said anchoring-rod, a prongcarrying plate and its 'fiat carrying-rod, a staple secured to the frame and guiding said rod, a fiat-bar connecting-rod havingits upper end pivoted to the frame, a trigger having its lower end pivoted to the central vertical rod and also pivoted to the connecting-rod, a slidable anchoring-rod longer than the frame anchoring-rod, and a clutch-lever having one end pivoted to the frame and the other end pendent and embracing the anchoring-rod, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimonywhereof we afx our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

SILAS B. RITTENHOUSE. JAMES FREEMAN RITTENHOUSE. Witnesses:

SOLOMON HEETER, CoRA MUNsoN. 

